>>>However with the Russians in there as well, we should be very careful not creating WWIII
>>
>>My guess is that Putin just took another way to put more pressure on the West, stimulating the trek of refugees further as Merkel has trouble after declaring welcome policy without any reservation. But there I am very uncertain, as Putin is hard to second-guess.
>
>Stimulating but not initiating it. I've seen them here in early july, and it wasn't the start of the wave.

Certainly. Had thought about a bit ;-))
In my visualization Merkel made a deal with Orban - she will take the accumulated refugees if he will close in loopholes in the fence - a one time action taking the burden off Hungary but stemming the flood. But she had to polish her own image, as she did not like the Greek Nazi cartoons - and blew it totally, as her statements steered the people to germany, whereas previously they wandered around being afraid to take a chance on any special country.

Woud have guessed she could approximate hydraulic systems better, but perhaps that is too much engineering for her physics ed... Now she is open to blackmail, even if it not called that in elevated diplomatic circles. And Putin has learned a few things, so now he is doing rail shots